Black Tides, the upcoming orca-attack thriller from Deep Blue Sea‘s Renny Harlin, has found its leading man, with Deadline revealing yesterday that screen icon John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction) is set to star.
Written by Chris Sparling (Buried) and Ángel Agudo (Prime Video’s Apocalypse Z), Black Tides follows Bill Pierce (Travolta), an estranged father whose attempt to reconnect with his daughter and grandson turns into a harrowing battle for survival when their boat is attacked by rogue orcas off the southern coast of Spain.
Due to shoot at the end of summer, Black Tides will be “shot old-school, with in-camera effects and real water work.”
Harlan, who also has another aquatic thriller Deep Water en route and The Strangers: Chapter 2 coming this fall, had this to say of Travolta's casting:
“John Travolta brings the perfect combination of grit, depth, vulnerability and charisma to the character of Bill Pierce, the estranged father, that achingly captures the tragedies of family dynamics […] I can’t wait to show fans of big screen cinema how his movie star presence and physicality will add gravity to the epic action sequences and deeply emotional personal drama. As a director, I consider myself fortunate to join a list of acclaimed filmmakers who’ve had the privilege of getting to know John as an artist and a person.”
Black Tides is produced by Adrián Guerra and Nuria Valls’s Nostromo Pictures (Buried), with The Solution Entertainment Group handling worldwide sales, and Lisa Wilson set to launch the film to buyers at Cannes.
Guerra is also hyped to have Travolta on board, saying:
“You build a film like this around very few people. John’s one of them. He brings the history, the craft, and the instinct that lets a character land in a way that lasts,”
Count us as very excited to see John Travolta take down a giant killer whale. Look out for more on Black Tides as we get it.
